Comments on: The Nautical Roots of 9 Common Phrases

By: Phobes

Phobes — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:54:39 +0000

I love the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington! Great picture reference to filibuster.

By: Ken Kixmoeller

Ken Kixmoeller — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:07:57 +0000

I can’t believe the phrase “a hard rode to hoe” hasn’t made this list. The “rode” is name of the anchor line. A anchor stuck on the bottom or full of rocks or weeds is hard to pull up (“hoe” or “ho”). So it is a hard rode to hoe. If you can’t loosen it, you might have to give it “the old heave-hoe.”

By: J Werner

J Werner — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:22:19 +0000

Although it may be a popular rumor, everyone’s favorite s-word is not an acronym for Ship High In Transit. It has roots in Old English and Middle Low German , and even back to the proto-Germanic root, skit. You can read all about it on snopes.com. It’s a similar story for everyone’s favorite f-word. It is not an acronym for the phrase For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

By: rd

rd — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 02:04:12 +0000

“Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion” is another. Bristol harbour has a very large tidal range, and at low tide ships would actually settle on the botton and roll partially to one side. The cargo therefore needed to be secured down firmly and tidily to prevent damage.

By: Tom Rankin

Tom Rankin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:18:44 +0000

Link on this page are broken.

By: scott

scott — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:33:21 +0000

Ship High in Transit

So cargo would not get wet, moldy, etc.

The acronym is well known today!

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:04:15 +0000

Knock on wood is another one

you would knock your hard tack bread against the wooden side of the ship to shake any beetles out of it

By: Les

Les — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:16:27 +0000

Scuttlebutt is another, from memory the chap in charge of the “grog” dished it out from a conical wooden vessel (so it did not tip over)called a “Butt” to the sailors. The butt was “scuttled”, once opened for use. The line up for the ration was a chance for rumour and gossip…hence the term. Sort of related to I guess is the rum (which I think now is being re made?) called “Nelson’s Blood”. His corpse was conveyed home in a rum vat for preservation and some die hards drank of it.

By: PK

PK — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:02:07 +0000

Stephen Fry presented a great radio program about phrases with nautical origins, like “taken aback” and about having a chip on one’s shoulder.

You can search for “Fry’s English Delight”.

By: Kiley

Kiley — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 23:46:30 +0000

Im a weather person in the US Navy, and if you have ever taken a meteorology course, there is primary and secondary circulation of the atmosphere. And doldrums is a legitamte term used to describe the area between the westerlies and the equator. These are also known as the “Horse Latitudes” because back in the day they would throw heavy items such as horses over the sides to lighten there load when they got stuck here.
Also “Freezing Brass Monkey Balls” is a term that came from what ships used to hold cannon balls. There was a brass plate with divets in which the cannon balls would be placed. When ships would sail up north during winter, it would get so cold that the brass would shrink and for obvious reasons, the cannon balls would fall off. Hence ,”Freezing Brass Monkey Balls.”